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LaTascya Duff, left, and sister LaTora Duff are shown working out at a UNM practice last November. LaTascya Duff will undergo surgery soon and may miss the start of the 2021-22 season. (Courtesy of UNM)
The good news for University of New Mexico women’s basketball fans is the season does not tip off in July. If it did, coach Mike Bradbury would be in a bind.
Between players recovering from surgery, another scheduled for surgery and a trio of not-yet-on-campus Europeans, the Lobos have quite a few more questions than answers regarding the 2021-22 season. Just two returning starters, forward Shaiquel McGruder and point guard LaTora Duff, have been full participants in UNM’s summer workouts.
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It wasn’t the kind of season they envisioned.
Kath van Bennekom and Nevaeh Parkinson started their college basketball careers at the strangest of times – the pandemic year of 2020-21. The University of New Mexico women’s basketball freshmen knew it would be a year of adjustments, but this was one for the ages.
Consider:
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n Van Bennekom, who grew up in the Netherlands, signed with New Mexico sight unseen. The 5-foot-9 guard first set foot in Albuquerque last August and immediately began a life defined by coronavirus protocols: online classes, isolation and eventually five-person pod workouts at the Davalos Center.
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Jaelyn Bates put out this photo along with her announcement that she has committed to the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team. Bates will be a senior this coming school year at Volcano Vista High. (Courtesy of Jaelyn Bates)
Jaelyn Bates playing women’s basketball for the University of New Mexico has long seemed inevitable.
Bates, a rising senior at Volcano Vista High School, made it official Thursday night. The 5-foot-6 point guard announced via Twitter that she has verbally committed to join the Lobos beginning in 2022-23.
“I’ve been dreaming about this for a long time,” Bates said. “I always wanted to play at UNM as a kid and the coaching staff showed they really wanted me. I’m definitely excited.”